In a major step towards transparency in medical admissions, the Supreme Court (SC) has directed the exam authorities to publish raw scores, answer keys, and the normalisation formula for the NEET-PG exam.
The direction is part of a detailed judgment issued by a bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and JR Mahadevan to ensure transparency in the counselling process and to prevent the malpractice of seat-blocking.
The apex court emphasised that making this core information public will promote fairness and trust in the high-stakes examination, which forms the entry point for thousands of aspiring specialists every year.
The 10-point checklist:
Apart from mandating the publication of answer keys and scores, the Supreme Court issued the following additional directions:
Synchronised counselling calendar across All India and State quotas.
Pre-counselling fee disclosure by private and deemed universities.
A centralised fee regulation framework under the National Medical Commission (NMC).
More seat-upgrade opportunities after Round 2.
Aadhaar-based seat tracking to curb dual seat allotments.
Strict penalties for seat blocking: forfeiture, blacklisting of colleges, debarment of candidates.
Disciplinary action against officials violating counselling rules.
A uniform code of conduct for counselling bodies across the country.
Third-party audits of counselling processes and data transparency.
Background
The case stemmed from a 2017–18 incident where two NEET-PG candidates were allegedly denied their preferred MD Radiology seats due to manipulative counselling practices, including seat blocking by other candidates. The Delhi High Court had awarded them Rs 10 lakh each as compensation for the lost opportunity.
Following this, the Medical Counselling Committee and the State Authorities challenged this order in the apex court.
However, while the Supreme Court struck down that part of the high court’s judgment, calling the compensation “excessive and arbitrary”, it did acknowledge the larger systemic flaws highlighted by the case and the positive reforms that followed.
What it means for students
As the court noted, the students who filed the original case have completed their postgraduate courses and won't regain their lost opportunity.
However, if implemented effectively, these reforms could significantly improve the credibility and transparency of postgraduate medical admissions in India in the future. With a clear focus on merit and timely information, the system may finally offer transparency and clarity about the exam process, something many candidates have been demanding for years.
This judgment also comes at a time when concerns over the lack of transparency in the NEET-PG examination process are at an all-time high, particularly due to the two-shift exam pattern and the normalisation method introduced last year.
Several petitions challenging these issues are currently pending before the Supreme Court, even as the NEET-PG 2025 exam is scheduled to be held on June 15, 2025.
